10/25/07

I want to keep folks updated on the pitfalls, perils and pleasures of online money making. As an update, I have received my first Cash Crate check (pictured above), in the amount of $26.45, earned last month (September). While not earth-shattering income, it's still extra income. It could pay for a domain name and hosting or even put into some online advertising investments. The check arrived on the 24th day of October, after being earned in September. Monetizer had noticed the online account indicated a payed date of 10/11/2007 so I began to frantically email them to ensure the check wasn't lost by mail. Luckily, it has arrived. The majority of my income on Cash Crate has come from their surveys, some of which are fun, others which are tedious. Overall though, this is a great program for you to join and promote to others, because of its very laid back nature (no spam, no pressure to participate daily, just at your leisure).

Google Adsense has consistently payed by the 26th of the Month after you earn $100, so they are not one to really worry about. Trust me, these guys have the money to pay people so they are pretty good about it, from what Monetizer has seen. There have been grumblings here or there from various publishers, but you never fully know what their situation is. Perhaps one of the most famous pictures of an Adsense check belongs to Shoemoney, seen below.

As for Gather.com, while Monetizer has not qualified for their cash program (which requires a lot of time spent commenting in the community during 1 month), Monetizer has received 2 gift cards for points ($20 Borders and a $25 Home Depot). I have a $50 Borders card on the way, it's been maybe 2 weeks since the order was put in for it. Most of my gift cards have arrived in that time frame. This is a social media site that can become quite addictive, but you basically earn points by giving and getting comments and several other actions on the site.

The quickest payer I have found thanks to DayJobNuker.com, has been Associated Content. They pay directly to PayPal. AC has consistently deposited to my PayPal account within 2-3 business days after I have accepted an article payout offer. I highly recommend this program to those who have a lot of spare blog entries that they can upload as articles, or just those who enjoy writing. AC takes content from all types of interests, from how-to's to movies to sports to politics. Most of my "non-exclusive" content has been accepted, but occasionally there are rejections over material not being new enough. Submitting content as "non-exclusive" will ensure that you can republish it or have it published elsewhere already. You also need to set your account to auto-confirm payments, which will speed up receiving them. Monetizer has earned closed to $60 with the site, in under 2 weeks time. For those struggling to meet Google's Adsense threshold would be a nice way to see some online money, as well as link back to your blog or site.

So there you have four online sites I have received actual payouts or items from. I will continue to update readers as more sites give payouts or any problems may occur. Also, this is not to say Monetizer isn't earning with others such as Kontera, Clickbank or Squidoo, those just are yet to meet the payout threshold.